Hip Hop – Culture Of Young Generations

Have you ever known about the history of Hip Hop? What is this culture and what are the components of hip-hop? Have you ever heard about 4 part of the culture in Hip Hop?

Actually, there are so many misunderstanding facts about Hip Hop… Some people assume that Hip Hop is a version of White people based on the tunes and music of Latin people (which is called Latina Hip Hop). Others believe that Hip Hop is a music genre and Rap is just a part of it which are the lyrics combining with the rhythms of Hip Hop.

In fact, Hip Hop is not just about music or rhythms. It is not only a music genre but also culture consists of various parts. Each part of Hip Hop is very amazing and worth to know deeply.

In original definitions, “hip” means “fashionable” and it is also known as “flexible”. Moreover, “hop” is a word refers to the sound which describes jumps and reaches. Combining these words together, we have “Hip Hop” which means a positive idea about “the development of life in mental improvement and self – confidence”.

Hip Hop’s origin is from Black people culture. It used to be common American commercial culture which was formed by migrants from the Caribbean to the suburb areas of New York. It was formed in the late 1970s in Bronx streets of New York and traveled all around the world, mix and fit it with various types of culture in the world and became a trend in many art fields including old and new cultures.

Hip hop contains 4 main parts. You might think they don’t come as separated parts, but each one has its own spirit as well as counted as a unique culture beauty of art.

Breakdance

First of all, the term “breakdancing” refers to the interruption in music and moves that interact with those beats and rhythms.

Breakdance from the beginning is performed in Jazz tracks played by professional musicians who bring the Latin American style to the streets. Breakdancing moves improve steadily with more sophisticated moves and skills as well as ground – based acrobatic movements. Dancers often use their hands and arm as the base for the body when performing the acrobatic skill with multiple spins along with the music.

First dance crew specialized and improved this type of dance is Dynamic Rocker and New York City Breakers. Breakdance appeared in 1969 with the introduction by James Brown, who came up with the basic moves. The original of these steps was the Good Foot.

Graffiti (Wall – painting)

Graffiti at first was a line of words that were written by gangs on American streets to determine the territories. The lines often came with some paintings or the logo of the gang. After a short period of time, they spread to other public places such as stations, parks… From basic shapes and words, Graffiti has developed to 3D graphics and complicated samples.

Today, Graffiti arts appear as one of the most important symbols of Hip hop culture. They are printed on any kinds of product such as clothes, CD, cars, walls. Graffiti has never been allowed by the government. That’s the reason why it has another name called “Art Crimes”. It’s the art of Hip-hop lovers and requires performers to disobey the laws and risk their lives to perform.

DJ and MC (Disc Jockey and Master of Ceremony)

Breakdancing can’t be spread this far without the help of DJs and MCs as well.

DJ or Disc Jockey is the name for people who are specialized in choosing and mixing the tracks, mostly Funk and Disco tracks from the 1970s. The instruments for DJ include a turntable used to play multiple tracks at once by playing vinyl records and an audio mixer. This type of equipment is used to mix the tracks as well as perform the special skill. The audio mixer is connected to the amplifier and the speakers. DJ was considered as a job at the end of the 1970s and then become a professional occupation with training systems.

DJs create clubs for people who love this type of music and also make plenty of networks for amateur players all over the world as well as audiences who want to hear tracks and learn to play. Sometimes, DJ also does the job of an MC (Microphone controller). It’s the person who introduces the show and the performers, invites people to join the music events and maintain the atmosphere throughout the tracks.

Rapping

The last part of Hip-hop is considered the most amazing and well – known in the world of modern music – Rapping. This is the connection between DJ and tracks by using rhythms.

Since the first Rap song was born, the lyrics was attached to street language and urban slang. In common language, “rap” refers to a tap which is light and tender. In American slang, “rap” means a person who excels in using the words in high speed and very flexible.

Good rappers are very good at combining common languages such as words and rhythms with slang system. They also make use of “chat” which is the way people text on cellphones to bring a new way of expressing ideas and emotions through the lyrics. It helps this type of language to be recognized by people more and gives people a better way to use words without precision or having to be formal.

Hip hop is not all about dancing or music, or even rapping. It’s a way people live and express their passion to the world. That’s the reason why young generations nowadays love this type of culture even more than before. Hip hop has been spread all over the world and fits in the life of millions of people no matter where they are and what they are doing to earn their livings. So as to know more about Hip hop, don’t forget to hear some hip hop tracks, watch a dance battle on the street, you’ll see more than I can explain in this article.